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Letters | Hong Kong taxis a threat to privacy? Andy Hui not first victim of dashcam scandal
- Breastfeeding mum in 2016, Andy Hui in 2019. Facebook uploads of personal moments by drivers violate privacy and underline failure to monitor dashcam use
Just over two years ago, there was a public uproar after footage of a taxi passenger breastfeeding her baby was uploaded to Facebook by the driver and circulated on the internet. Now, we have the episode of a video of two celebrities kissing in a vehicle being made public (“Milking Andy Hui scandal for laughs is a cruel thing to do”, April 18).
All this has raised concerns among taxi passengers that with CCTV cameras installed, their privacy may be intruded upon. Taxis are presumed to be private space, and the risk of being recorded by a camera on one’s journey brings to mind the “big brother” surveillance depicted in George Orwell’s 1984.
The installation of cameras in taxis was meant to ensure drivers rendered better service and to settle disputes. The data recorded would be encrypted and drivers would not be able to access it without the permission of the Association of Taxi Industry Development.
A representative of the association estimated that cameras have been installed in over 8,000 taxis. From the incident with the mother and now with Andy Hui, it would appear that the authorities have not been monitoring the use of taxi cameras.
The former privacy commissioner has pointed out that installation of cameras in taxis could be an infringement of privacy and seen as an unfair collection of private data.
Immediate remedial action should be taken before more people have their privacy rudely intruded upon again and circulated for public consumption.
Randy Lee, Ma On Shan
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